ARE YOU COMING? The Rapido Composition Contest's National Finals Concert is this Sunday, January 20th in ATLANTA. Our five Finalists are coming from Santa Monica, CA; Tucson, AZ; Bloomington, IN; Jacksonville, FL; and Marlborough, MA. Judges are flying in from Boston and Philadelphia. Partner ensemble musicians and staff and board are coming from San Francisco, Dallas, Chicago and Boston. ARE YOU COMING? See you there!

BACK TO OUR FAVORITES!!

BACK TO OUR FAVORITES!! This Sunday is going to be a real treat for us... We're going back to some of our very favorites - and hope they're yours too! I've been a fan of the topsy turvy Dumky piano trio since the first time I heard it at the 92nd Street Y in New York on a chamber music festival years ago. The deeply reflective sections alternate with exciting exuberance in dizzying fashion and ... well, it really appeals to my vacillating emotional state, I suppose. And the TROUT! Well, who doesn't respond to Franz Schubert's toe tapping sparkler?! And I'm tickled that pianist Alex Wasserman will be making his ACP debut in this work, which it turns out is also a top favorite for Alex as well!! So join us this Sunday November 11, 3:00 pm at the Ahavath Achim Synagogue's gorgeous Ellman Chapel with its famous acoustics. Sometimes it's just what we need... to turn back to our FAVORITES! -Paula Peace

Who cares about this Rapido Competition?!?!?!

I hope you’re aware of ACP’s upcoming season opening concert – this Sunday Oct 14^th. But what I’d like to quickly share is how far reaching and how successful our Rapido 14 Day Composition Contest has become. From Boston to San Francisco and from Chicago to Dallas, Rapido has grown quickly from its beginnings in 2009 in just Atlanta and just the SE region to be a 50 state composition contest impressing and impacting.

I have been fortunate to travel in the last days to hear our partner ensembles’ regional competition concerts, speak with the composers and audiences and judges. In Boston I was greeted warmly by Pulitzer-Prize winning composer John Harbison (who was serving as a judge for the Boston Musica Viva NE concert.)  John was eager to say how “impressed” he was with the Rapido concept and that all of the three regional Semi-Finalist works performed that evening were works of real merit, making the selection of just one Finalist a real challenge for him and judge colleagues Martin Brody (faculty Wellesley College) and Sam Headrick (faculty Boston University.)

In Dallas this past weekend, SW Semi-Finalist composer Ann Gebuhr (PhD. Indiana University in theory, specialist in Hildegarde von Bingen) was commenting about the excellent prognosis for the future of composition which Rapido afforded her. Hearing the hip-hop and jazz influenced Rapido works of 21 year old Charles Zoll (who won the region) and 23 year old Drew Worden made Dr. Gebuhr feel more confident that the future of composition was in good hands with this next generation.

From almost 400 entries received this past June, to 15 Semi-Finalists in our five US regions, to 5 Finalists… Rapido is an exciting adventure to experience live! Join us in this exciting search to offer multiple premiere performances, online videos and radio broadcasts to underserved composers whose music clearly deserves our attention.

All the best,

Paula Peace

Summer in Mexico!

Not only was I (Paula) lucky to spend the whole summer in lovely San Miguel de Allende, Mexico (in the cool central highlands, great climate! ) -- but 6 other ACP musicians joined me there for 4 concerts as part of the San Miguel International Chamber Music Festival! Also joining us were 11 other Board members and Soiree subscribers, making a total of 18 of us from Atlanta in San Miguel for the week of August 12-20. Highlights included George Crumb's Voice of the Whale trio in the 19th century Angela Peralta Teatro (complete with masks, blue lighting and excellent amplification) and Mendelssohn's powerful and dazzling Cm Pf Trio AND the world premiere of a work we commissioned from ASO bassist Michael Kurth featuring Latin rhythms galore (and Alcides on maracas!) for all 7 of us ACP musicians all together in one encore piece. We were proud to be on the Festival roster with the Pacifica Quartet, Cassatt Quartet and Onix Ensamble from Mexico City. In addition to traditional works by Mozart, Beethoven and Brahms, we performed American music of Ned Rorem and John Harbison. Congrats to the group for 4 strong performances! (And everyone really enjoyed the sunsets and colors and excellent restaurants and jazz clubs in San Miguel. Indeed it was a memorable summer first for ACP!)

Crossing Over!!

It's fun for us too!! We're looking forward to this Sunday's "Classical Crossover" concert when - after a first half of classical masters Mozart & Beethoven - we can let our hair down and play some of the excellent jazz crossover / classical music by Frenchman Claude Bolling. ACP flutist Christina Smith and cellist Brad Ritchie will alternately be featured with the jazz trio of pianist Brent Runnels, bassist Kevin Smith and drummer Justin Varnes for several of the most popular movements from Bolling's Suite for Flute / Cello with Jazz Trio. Brent is a really special pianist, a real crossover expert, as he is one of the rare superb classical pianists who also feels right at home in the jazz world. I can't wait to kick my shoes off (after performing my favorite Mozart piano trio, K. 502) - and sit with you in the audience to enjoy Claude Bolling's crossover music exactly as it was envisioned... performed by first class classical musicians with first class jazz artists. See you this Sunday Jan 29th, 3:00 pm!  www.atlantachamberplayers.com  for details

Soiree Tomorrow

Our soiree series is such a way to charge my personal batteries! I go a bit nuts before hand, producing all the program details, coordinating the various and differing venues (from private homes to luxury hotels to consul general's residences, among many others) -- but afterwards I always feel I've really connected with the soiree audience. It's like turning off the hectic world for a few minutes and returning to the roots of chamber music, music making in small, intimate venues for an elite gathering. It's great to have a soiree family with whom one can celebrate the holidays and the joys of chamber music!

British Geoffrey Bush's lovely lovely trio

Today was so much fun! Got together with Liz Koch and Carl Nitchie to rehearse our upcoming Trio for Ob/Bsn/Pf by British composer Geoffrey Bush. It's a treat!! Declamatory, sweeping, tender, quixotic, full of yummy solos...  we really enjoyed the piece. And you will too, I feel sure! It begins our season on Sun Oct 23rd. Hope it's on your calendar and you've already gotten your 2 for 1 tickets in advance. We haven't played it before, haven't heard it before... but it's a keeper. (Whew! *sigh of relief*)